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FoodFund Int'l eyes new Dubai restaurant brands

Eat Greek and Ribs & Burgers set to open in emirate before the end of 2012

The Meat Company restaurant chain in Dubai

By Andy Sambidge

Wed 21 Mar 2012 06:31 PM

FoodFund International is set to open two new brands in Dubai in the next eight or nine months, and will also be opening The Meat Company in Cassablanca, Morocco.

Talking at the Caterer Middle East conference, Joseph Chalfoun, area general manager of FoodFund International, said: “One brand will be called Eat Greek and the other will be a franchiseable concept called Ribs & Burgers."

FoodFund International already operates The Meat Company, Ribs and Rumps and Tribes in the Middle East.

“The chairman has Greek heritage and has a soft spot for the food and so that’s the reason behind Eat Greek," added Chalfoun in comments published by Hotelier Middle East.

He added that the firm would "test" the concepts in Dubai before exporting them to London, with plans to open in other key markets.

“Our restaurants are well-received in Dubai and it’s a good place to see how they will do,” he said.

The UAE restaurant market is set to grow 30 percent to $780m in the next four years and will be dominated by American-style fast food brands, an industry expert said in November.

Branded table-service restaurants generate about $600m a year in the UAE, a number set to swell to $780 by 2015, said Stefan Breg, founder of Tribe Restaurant Creators in Abu Dhabi.

In a poll of dining outlets in the Gulf state, Tribe found American brands comprised up to 47 percent of food and beverage offers in Dubai malls.